Moderator's Report

Another race with no reported incidents, Something that everyone should be very proud of especially given the highly dangerous first turn.
The circuit has received a very chalk and cheese response from the drivers - While some loved it others detested it. Luckily the event was sponsered by Marmite this week so the advertisers were all happy atleast.

While only 5 drivers lived to see the chequered flag, that didn't stop some big battles occuring through the field.

Round 2 of the amateurs trophy becons and we find ourselves on a slow boat to California. The slightly relevant password should help our budding cryptologists (is that even a real word?) continue their search for this seasons theme.....

Reserve drivers should not join the server(s) until there are only 30 minutes of qualifying left. Please restrict chat to pit messages. Moderating will be by reported incidents only, however the moderators reserve the right to review any incident with a particular emphasis on lap one. The aim is to review the race the following weekend so incident reports should be submitted within five days of the race (ie the following Friday). We're hopeful most incidents can be resolved amicably and recommend a days deep breath with a replay review before posting. A sorry in the forum won't be taken as an automatic admission of guilt by the moderators.The race will be run on PRO Damage.

NOTE: Please ensure you join the correct server, due to the way we import if you start the race on the wrong server your result will not count.

**NOTE**Whichever chassis a driver begins race 1 with is the chassis he must use for the remainder of the season unless a change has been agreed with the moderator.

About the Track

The annual "Del Monte Trophy" was run on the streets of Pebble Beach beginning in 1950 and ending in 1956 after driver Ernie McAfee died racing his Ferrari into a tree. Over the winter the locals made arrangements for some local government land to be set aside for a purpose-built race track. The next year Laguna Seca ("dry lagoon" in Spanish) was opened. Road racing forever shifted from Pebble Beach to Laguna Seca, which is barely five miles away and a far better facility, as any modern racer will tell you.

In its first year (1950), the Pebble Beach Road Race was run on a shorter course than the one you see here. It was 1.8 miles long and cut off the sharp left-hand turn and the hairpin of the newer course, T3 and T4. You can see in the GPL track where the dirt trail leaves the track at T3 and rejoins it at T5, the beginning of the long downhill straight. This portion of the track was actually packed dirt; it was never paved and is still not paved to this day.

This 1.8-mile short course was used only once. For the six subsequent races (1951 - 56) the track was extended to 2.1 miles by adding the turns mentioned above. The road immediately following the hairpin (T4) was not paved during that time. In fact, much of that road is still not paved today. However, the decision was made to cover this portion with asphalt to make it easier to race on. Forgive the minor technical inaccuracy.s track layout has remained mostly unchanged from its original form.(Taken and slightly modified from the Authors notes on the circuit)

Are we allowed to cut freely over the chicanes in the middle of the lap? I vote for "yes" because the grooved line goes over the grass anyway and because it's nearly impossible not to cut, or to control how much you do every lap.

I'd like to say no, but as you say it'll be nearly impossible to police - Only method I can see is to move the pit camera to the chicane and watch the entire replay with a note pad after the event

That sounds like far too much work! That said I may do some testing and see if the tracks waypoints are capable of picking up people taking it too far. Don't remember ever being penalised off line though so doubt it'll work TBH

I'd like to say no, but as you say it'll be nearly impossible to police - Only method I can see is to move the pit camera to the chicane and watch the entire replay with a note pad after the event

That sounds like far too much work! That said I may do some testing and see if the tracks waypoints are capable of picking up people taking it too far. Don't remember ever being penalised off line though so doubt it'll work TBH

It would be bad if waypoints are made to work because it's a close call and I doubt anyone would like to get a black flag/DQ for such a thing. There is some risk involved in cutting too much, so there's some natural balance. I'll do some laps and upload a video of what I think should be allowed, but I certainly think that 4 wheels off the track is almost inevitable.

That said I may do some testing and see if the tracks waypoints are capable of picking up people taking it too far.

To date we have always run the servers with check points disabled because warp can sometimes cause a driver to be black flagged for cutting a corner (one with a check point obviously) when they clearly did no such thing (see etiquette point 9). I expect there will be quite a lot of corner cutting at the "esses" but provided it is understood by everyone a the start that this will not be penalized then it will be the same for everyone. The alternative is to state something like "you must keep at least 2 wheels on the tarmac at all times" or "no wheels outside the kerbs" and then for the moderator to laboriously check every lap of the replay for every driver. What happens when drivers transgress? A 10 second penalty for each transgression? A lot of work Tim .

On most tracks cutting a corner doesn't yield a significant advantage, maybe this track happens to be an exception?

That said I may do some testing and see if the tracks waypoints are capable of picking up people taking it too far.

To date we have always run the servers with check points disabled because warp can sometimes cause a driver to be black flagged for cutting a corner (one with a check point obviously) when they clearly did no such thing (see etiquette point 9). I expect there will be quite a lot of corner cutting at the "esses" but provided it is understood by everyone a the start that this will not be penalized then it will be the same for everyone. The alternative is to state something like "you must keep at least 2 wheels on the tarmac at all times" or "no wheels outside the kerbs" and then for the moderator to laboriously check every lap of the replay for every driver. What happens when drivers transgress? A 10 second penalty for each transgression? A lot of work Tim .

On most tracks cutting a corner doesn't yield a significant advantage, maybe this track happens to be an exception?

It is an advantage here, but it's the same for everyone and it sort of flows naturally to cut at the chicanes. It requires less or no braking, less steering and less direction change, so it's good in that sense. The only problem would be after the start with everyone following closely, but as long as everyone is conscious about it, I don't see a reason to worry about it.

I'm much more concerned about the hairpins though - past experience and the BREASTS race this week just proved it's very difficult NOT to have an incident under braking for those places. They are so narrow and the braking point so obscure, that a single lapse in concentration or misjudgment by someone behind can lead to a huge wreck. I really hope everyone is going to practice properly and be prepared to take it easy early on.

I'm beginning to wonder if starting last might actually be the safest thing to do here...

I'm beginning to wonder if starting last might actually be the safest thing to do here...

I should be pretty safe then

BTW I've had a couple of races against the AI here. It's the only track I've ever driven where the AI pile up like dominoes (on T2 and T3). Quite funny, but it won't be a laughing matter if it happens in the league race

I see your point Phil, we'll just have to allow it then - as H says cutting too far becomes very risky so it should level out in the end.As I'm out until sometime Sat afternoon and probably won't be able to create a vid until Sunday I'll see what H comes up with and comment on that

I have to agree with Hristo on this one. Unless we make it clear that cutting the chicanes will be allowed, I can see some poor soul who is trying to stay on the tarmace ( and slowing dramatically for these flicks) getting harpooned by 4 cars following behind at warp speed!!

The braking, for 4 out of the 5 corners, is very heavy and there WILL be rear end shunts all the way through the field I'm sure.

We almost need a drivers briefing for this race by the chief mod, warning everyone of the dangers...... but I think they will become obvious, very quickly, during qualification.

This should be quite an event and the tortoise might well triumph over the hares???

We almost need a drivers briefing for this race by the chief mod, warning everyone of the dangers......

Eh someone call...TBH I'm not racing in this one and don't know the track so it's (other) Tim's baby - whatever you do I would reccomend changing the initial race post so it is clear to everyone as to what is expected.